What is the Beaufort Scale? The Beaufort scale, officially known as the Beaufort Wind Force Scale, is a descriptive table. That is to say that it depicts the force of wind by a series of numbers from 0 to 12. The scale is named after Sir Francis Beaufort of the British Royal Navy who in…
Boating Blog
Mayday Call
Making a Mayday call will likely be stressful. Your VHF radio may be your only lifeline. The VHF may feature Digital Selective Calling but we must complete the procedure with a verbal message. We’ll go on to discuss this further down in the article. Let’s look at the components of the mayday call so we understand what…
Filing a Float Plan
The following excerpt is from the United States Coast Guard. Why should you take the time to prepare a Float Plan? The answer is simple… there are just too many facts that need to be accurately remembered. All facts must be conveyed in an emergency situation. Without a float plan you are counting on someone…
Boating Under the Influence
BOATING UNDER THE INFLUENCE (BUI ) IS JUST AS DEADLY AS DRINKING AND DRIVING The following is a re-post from the US Coast Guard Every boater needs to understand the risks of boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs (BUI). It is illegal to operate a boat while under the influence of alcohol or…
Winterizing a Boat
This article about winterizing a boat has been modified for our blog. We thank our friends at Discover Boating for their knowledge and enthusiasm. WHY WINTERIZE A BOAT Especially in Connecticut, you’ll want to winterize a boat before freezing temperatures set in. Deciding on an option for boat storage is only the first step in…
The Boating Pecking Order
Lots of people want to know how the Boating Pecking Order applies to everyday boating. It is a great question. Lets explore it. WHY IS THERE A PECKING ORDER So the Boating Pecking Order exists to make our waterways safer and to avoid any confusion regarding who has the right of way. We are not…
2020 Boating Accident Report Notables
FIRSTLY, What is this report? The 2020 Recreational Boating Statistics Report or often times referred to the “2020 Boating Accident Report” is a synopsis of all of the boating accidents, injuries and fatalities in any given year. The 62nd annual report for 2020 is 83 pages. This report helps to guide us on how to…
EPIRBS AND PLBS
WHAT ARE EPIRBS AND PLBS First of all EPIRBS and PLBS are acronyms. EPIRB stands for Emergency position indicating radio beacon. PLB stands for personal locator beacon. A PLB is the smaller counterpart of an EPIRB. In any case they are both life-saving devices. By simply turning them on, they send out an SOS signal…
Paddling Safety Tips
Hello friends. We don’t get to spend a lot of time during our licensing class on Paddling. As a result of this we have put together this article regarding Paddling Safety Tips and general reminders. There are tons of free information on paddling safety throughout the internet. There are tons of paddling safety classes both…